


Empty Chairs

by arenoseAnima



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-20 04:11:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3636222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arenoseAnima/pseuds/arenoseAnima
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A custody battle, Beach City style.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Empty Chairs

They want to take Steven right away. Rose’s gem is still glowing on his stomach, through the swaddling - in all the excitement nobody thought to grab a blanket, or a towel, or something, and he’s wrapped up in Rose’s dress. Maybe someday he’ll be tall enough to wear it.

Pearl cites paragraphs about training and proper care while pacing back and forth in the hall. Her voice gets higher with every sentence she jabbers. Garnet nods at appropriate times, and offers additional clarification. Amethyst says nothing. She’s not even looking at the bundle in Greg’s arms. She just sits hunched over in the chair she’s claimed outside the maternity ward, staring at her feet.

He’s about to hand Steven over. After all, the gems know better how to take care of a magic kid, right? And they have a whole temple, which has to be better than a van just through sheer volume. Right? Steven gurgles and shifts in his sleep, grasping unconsciously at Greg’s shirt. He remembers the video he helped Rose make. That seems like a million years ago, now, but he still remembers what she said - that this little boy, this whole new _person_ that they made together, was going to be special. The idea that Greg could make something special seemed laughable at the time; now, holding their son, he thinks - Rose made him better. 

Greg holds Steven up, and he wakes with another burble, kicking his feet under the dress’s skirt. Pearl stops talking, finally, and they all watch with a mix of expressions Greg can’t even begin to describe. This is, he thinks, just like _Lion King_. He hopes the gems won’t drop him into a herd of wildebeest.

“I’m going to keep him,” he says, to Steven’s stomach. Nobody pulls out their weapons, which is better than he expected. Pearl’s voice is a squawk - “ _What_?” at the same time as Garnet says “Let him talk.”

Well, that puts him on the spot. “Uh,” Greg says. “He’s my son and I - I think I should keep him for a while. Just to... make sure everything’s all right.”

They don’t know about the videotape, or how deep Rose’s love for humanity went. Sure, they love Earth (Greg hopes), and they’d follow Rose into - well, into battle. But somehow he can’t imagine Pearl showing up to a concert alone, or Amethyst sitting on the pier with him. Or Garnet singing a duet, off-key and laughing, to her belly. 

He doesn’t realize he’s crying until Steven reaches for him, tiny hands plapping across his face and grasping his beard. The gems are silent, uncomfortable; Pearl wrings her hands together. Finally, it’s Amethyst who speaks.

“Is this what Rose wanted?”

Greg gathers Steven to his chest. The gem’s glow is dying down as Steven begins to doze off again. Does that mean Rose is gone for good, and there’s no going back?

“I don’t know,” he lies. “But I know she would’ve wanted me to keep him safe.”

It’s okay if they hate him, just so long as he does right by Steven.


End file.
